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VCU Torah Scroll Assembly

Jay M. Ipson and Dianna Gabay carefully assembled a 250 year old Torah scroll on May 12, 2014. Virginia Commonwealth University Cabell Library requested their assistance after receiving the Romanian scroll (circa 1750) as a donation. Incredibly the Torah survived confiscation by the Nazis during the Holocaust, later claimed by the Romanian Communist regime, and finally acquired by a couple from The Bible Museum of Goodyear, Arizona. With direction from Jay and Dianna, Patricia Sellinger (VCU Assistant Professor with Preservation and Inventory Management) procured the rollers, Giddim, Girdle, Mantle, and Yad, which were installed by Jay and Dianna. Linda Gissen, a Virginia sculpture, created the unique Yad. In the process of assembling the Torah, Jay discovered the name of the Scribe at the end of the Torah that attaches to the Atzel Chaim.